Shower bath accessory



March 10, 1959 L. E. MANGUM SHOWER BATH ACCESSORY Filed Aug. 2s, 1955 Luke E. Mangum INVENTOR.

United States Pate SHOWER BATH ACCESSORY Luke E. Mangum, Nampa, Idaho Application August 23, 1955, Serial No. 530,008

2 Claims. (Cl. 211-86) The present invention relates to a novel multi-purpose shower bath accessory which is suitably and satisfactorily constructed and designed to support and render handily accessible miscellaneous so-called toilet articles, such as, for example, head and body brushes, sponge, shampoo container, soap, towel, washcloth and the like.

There has long existed a need for practical and effectual article holding means for use in conjuction with a shower head, with or without a bath tub, whereby to place the desired or intended articles in an elevated position for selective use by a user. It is therefore an object-of the instant invention to provide a simple, economical and reliable structural device which embodies facilities and an attractive and reliable arrangement thereof to accomplish the over-all results desired.

To the end that the above and similar objectives may be aptly achieved the instant concept involves the adoption and use of suitable structural parts which combine and attain the desired result in a feasible manner.

In carrying out the principles of the invention a horizontally elongate rack is utilized. This takes the form of an open-ended tray having upstanding flanges providing article confining walls and having means whereby it may be bracketed or otherwise fastened to a wall of the shower enclosure in a position at a height which is below and out of the range of the issuing water jets of the shower head, whereby the toilet articles supported thereon will be at the disposal of the user for handy removal and replacement while taking a shower,

Another object of the invention is to provide the ends of the tray-like rack with depending flanges which serve to support a depending U-shaped bail which may be used as an equally handy support for towels and washcloths.

Then, too, novelty is predicated on the use of novel brackets which are preferably employed as a pair, these brackets being characterized by collars which embrace the valve stem of the usual mixing head, whereby the tray is thus supported without requiring the alteration of existing or stock equipment.

Novelty is also predicated on brackets which are both detachable and adjustable to accommodate valve stems which are either close together or far apart, means being associated with the brackets to accommodate an optionally usable soap dish and a stringer-like member which supports said dish.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved shower bath accessory showing the manner in which it is used;

Figures 2 and 3 are sectional and elevational views, fragmentary in type, taken on the lines 2-2 and 33 of Figure 1.

In the drawings the shower stall wall, or bathroom wall, as the case may be, is denoted by the numeral 4. The shower head is not shown. However, the usual pair of hot and cold water mixing valves for the mixing head (not shown) are illustrated. These are in customary coplanar. spaced relation and each includes, among other parts, the valve stem or shank 6 and turning handle 8. Although the invention may be supported from the wall in many different ways it is usually and preferably supported by the means illustrated.

The aforementioned rack denoted by the numeral 10 may be of stainless steel or any suitable material and it is horizontally elongated and includes the flat bottom 12 with upstanding spaced parallel lengthwise walls or flanges 14 which define an open-ended tray. Atthe ends are depending flanges 16 having apertures 18 to support the U-shaped towel hanger 18. This has a bight portion 20 and vertical arms 22 whose upper ends are tumedin as at 24 and thus fastened in the holes 18.

The rack may be attached to the wall in some other manner but the means shown has proved to be suitable and satisfactory. There are two brackets used and each bracket is denoted by the numeral 26. As shown in Figure 3 the bracket is made from strap metal and the central or connecting portion 28 carries depending arms 30 which are welded or otherwise secured as at 32 to diametrically opposite sides of a sleeve or collar 34. This is obviously removably fitted on the valve stem in the manner shown. By preference one of the arms has an extension 36 with a slot 38 which may be used to removably and adjustably support the strip member 40 for the soap dish 42. The soap dish is pivoted or otherwise fastened at 44 to the intermediate portion of the strip member and the soap dish is preferably of open construction for proper drainage. The strip member is preferably corrugated as at 46 so that the corrugated ends may be adjustably supported and retained in the keeper slot 38 in the manner seemingly obvious from the drawings. The connecting portion 28 of the bracket is secured to a flat rectangular plate 48 which is in turn mounted in the track-like channels 50 of an accompanying track member 52 as perhaps best shown in Figure 2. The track members are open at the ends so that the plate 48 may be slipped in place.

The invention provides a satisfactory shower bath fixcure or accessory of a multi-purpose or combination type which may be used to accommodate brushes, soap, washcloth, towel, container for shampoo and so on. The tray may be attached to a wall, pipes or even to soap trays which are sometimes already installed in the walls of a shower stall or similar enclosure.

The collars are such that they fit over the valve stems and are adjustable to fit any set of valve stems regardless of dimensions, although most all shower mixing heads are standard and the stems are 8 inches apart, but in case they were closer or farther apart they can be used with this particular fixture. The soap holder is also adjustable according to the distance apart of any valve stems and should be perforated.

The towel rack is made the full length of the 15 inch brush holder to permit plenty of room for at least three washcloths folded once or for two washcloths spread out. This washcloth rack is also detachable as you will note. Also, the fixture points are rounded so as not to scratch the body.

This fixture can be made either with or without the soap holder, very handy, in case, as in my own bathroom, there is already a soap holder installed in the wall.

This fixture may be made out of stainless steel, chromium, or some other fine metal and adapted as a regular installation when shower baths are installed, or else it could be made out of plastic at a very much lower cost.

Two other features concerning this fixture are, (1) in cases where there is only one valve stem and the hot and cold water are mixed in the head, this particularly is in use in some of the newer hotels, and this fixture can easily-be adjusted for the one valve stem with or without soap holder, or (2) it can be screwed to the side of the wall by two screws through the brush rack.

Reference to the over-all construction depicted in Figure 1 will serve, it would seem, to convey to the reader theconstr-uction and arrangement of components representing a satisfactory embodiment of "the-invention. Such being the case, it is believed that it is unnecessaryto include a more extensive description.

Changes in shape, size, materials, and rearrangement of the cooperating components may he resorted to in actual practice without departing from the spiritof the invention or the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

"'1. For use in conju-nction with a shower hath, a-holder which "lends itself to satisfactory use-as support means fonwetarticles such as head andbody brushes, a sponge, a-closedshampoo container and so on, comprising a horizontally disposed rack characterized by an elongated open-ended tray having lengthwise upstanding wall-forming-flanges and depending transverse end flanges which may be used in supporting a suspended towel rack, a plate affixed fiatwise to the underneath side of the bottom of said tray, said plate having lengthwise open-ended channels providing spaced parallel track members, a second plate superimposed against the first plate and having its edge portions slidably and removably keyed in said track members, an inverted U-shaped yoke having a bight portionsuitably-afiixed to the bottom of said second-named plate, and depending spacing and supporting limbs, and a collar interposed and fixed between lower .end portions ofmsaid limbs, said collar being adapted to embrace a valve stem whereby to permit said yoke, by way of said collar, to be attached to and supported above the valve stem.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein the lower end of one of said arms extends beyond a cooperating peripheral outer surface of said collar, said extending portion having a slot therein to accommodatingly support a portion'of a soap dish supporting member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 716,713 Hughes Dec. 23, 1902 1,090,724 Koehler Mar. 17, 1914 1,270,718 Ford June 25, 1918 1,271,583 Ketler July 9, 1918 1,551,434 Shifter Aug. 25, 1925 1,683,566 Mix. Sept. '4, 1928 1,697,711 .Brown Jan. 1,.1929 1,867,525 Piersall July 12, 1932 1,955,209 Tyler Apr; 17, 1934 2,156,025 Paul. Apr. 25, 1939 2,258,178 Hafiner Oct. 7, 1941 2,529,173 Moyer et al.v Nov. 7, 1950 2,764,438 .Haviland Sept. 25, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,047,008 France July 15, 1953 

